Overview
- Police registered an FIR on Wednesday at Pune’s Vishrantwadi station after a viral clip showed an April 11 hostel dance set to the track “O Re Bandook Wale.”
- Two BBA students were booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 197(1), 353(1) and 3(5) as investigators review the video, and no arrests have been made.
- Hostel officials said the performers picked the YouTube song minutes before the act and did not know it referenced Maoist commander Madvi Hidma.
- ABVP and BJP-aligned activists held protests in the city and demanded tougher action after police confirmed the case.
- Police and intelligence units are probing who chose the song and any links to urban Maoist networks, a sensitive issue given Hidma’s role as a slain CPI (Maoist) commander tied to past attacks.